Lacrimae Luporum
by n0xi0us.n1rvaNa
Summary: OC story in the point of view of Tsume's younger sister, Tsuki. Tsuki struggles within herself knowing that she and her brother are meant for something greater than rotting in Freeze City for the rest of their lives. What happens after she sees a white wolf in her dreams? KibaOC, and a little BlueOC fluff. Title means "Tears of Wolves".
1. Prologue and Chapter 1

please go to:

aeonsoul234 . webs . com

and in the photo gallery click the album titled "Lacrimae Luporum" to see images of OCs and other pictures that I use for reference in this story.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

_Wolves... Humans believed that we had died out over 200 years ago, but we never did. We had just found a way to keep ourselves hidden from everything; from everyone. They said that the humans were the ones that destroyed Paradise... but I never blamed them. From what I've seen, they didn't know what they were doing. _

_In the end, it wasn't the ones with physical strength that survived... It was the ones with inner strength. _

_We were forced to hide our true selves from the humans.  
We were forced to make ourselves appear human... _

_Some of us lost ourselves in this process and they started to really believe that they truly were human, while others couldn't bear to have their life of freedom as a wolf taken away from them. _

_Sometimes I wonder if this was the right thing to do..._

_Sometimes I wonder if I can even call myself a wolf at all anymore..._

_My name is **Tsuki**, and this is my story._

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE:  
****Dreams**

_As far as the eye could see, there was nothing. No trees, no mountains, only earth. On top of that earth was a thick blanket of snow, which was still slowly falling. It was calming, yet somehow painful. I could see the tracks on the ground leading up to a white wolf lying down on the snow. By his mouth lay a withered flower. As I saw his face, I couldn't figure out the expression on it. He either looked as if everything had been taken away from him and he had nothing left or as if he was at peace.  
_

_The white wolf's voice echoed in my mind. "They say there's no such place as Paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the Earth, there's nothing there... No matter how far you walk, it's always the same road. It just goes on and on... but in spite of that, why am I so driven to find it...? A voice calls to me. It says... search for Paradise..."_

_The white wolf closed his eyes and I felt his spirit begin to leave him. It had begun to rain, but the eyes of the wolf remained closed. Beautiful white flowers were blooming all around him in the moonlight. Suddenly the snow that was beneath the wolf turned into water. His body sunk into it. As the wolf looked up at the sky from the water around him, the moon changed from a blood red color to a beautiful white color. _

_Then darkness...-_

"Hey! Would you wake up already?" said a familiar voice.

I groaned and opened one of my eyes seeing my older brother standing before me. I turned around to face the wall.

"Get up, it's already past seven... You've been napping for three hours." Tsume said as he shook my shoulder.

"Why bother... Not going to do anything else today anyways... Like always..." I said.

"I've got another raid planned for tonight that I'm leaving for now if you're looking for something to do." Tsume said.

I was silent for a couple seconds before turning around. Tsume looked at me with one eyebrow raised, awaiting an answer. I sat up and stretched before letting out a sigh.

"So?" Tsume asked.

"You know that I never go on your stupid little raids. I don't see why you even have to do this anyway. Can't you just get job like every other person? I mean we could-"

Tsume interrupted me. "We're not normal people, remember?"

"I know... But that doesn't give you a reason to go to extremes and start a freakin' gang-"

"Alright, I get it, you don't want to come. That's the last time I'll ask you then." Tsume said as he started to walk away.

"You know, one day if I ever say yes, I know you're not gonna let me come. You're just asking me because you know I'm gonna say no and I won't be able to say that you didn't offer." I said.

Tsume stopped for a second when I said this and then began to walk away again. I got up and ran up to him, hugging him from behind. He stopped walking as I did so.

"Be careful, okay...? I don't know what I would do if I lost you..." I said.

I always got like this when Tsume was going to leave on a raid with that stupid little gang of his. I remember when we first came to Freeze City... We were hiding out in our true forms at first. We got noticed way to easily and learned to mesh in with the humans. Something drew us into this armpit of a city... a scent... We were just following the sweet scent with our noses at first, trying to find out what it was. If I concentrated, I could still faintly catch it, but now things are different. We ended up just staying here since it was easy to survive. Then Tsume decides to start a gang instead of getting a job that any normal human would do...

"I'm not going to die, Tsuki. It'll take a lot more than any of those stupid humans and their guns can do." Tsume answered.

I sighed and let go of him. He turned around and gave me a tight hug, kissing the top of my head as he embraced me. I looked up at him with a worried look on my face.

"Don't give me that look... You know I hate it... I'll be fine." Tsume said.

He let go of me and rustled my hair.

"Hey!" I said as I fixed it.

"Stay out of trouble, okay?" Tsume said.

"You're one to talk..." I said, crossing my arms.

Tsume smiled and shook his head before he walked off. I walked over to the windowsill, sitting down on it and watching everyone below. Gehl, the youngest member of the gang, saw me and waved. I forced a smile and waved back. He was another person I was worried about. At a mere thirteen, he was already in a grown-up gang. I never understood why he went with them anyways. He could always just stay behind with the rest of standby. When they got into their cars and were out of sight, I walked back onto my futon. I laid down on it and stared at the ceiling above me, sighing and closing my eyes. After about an hour and a half of failed attempts at sleeping I got up. I was too worried about Tsume to try and sleep... and that nap had thrown of my sleeping cycle. I got up and walked over to the windowsill. I jumped out of the window, landing almost soundlessly on the ground. As I got up and looked at the moonless sky, I let out a sigh.

"We need to get out of here..." I said to myself.

I put my hands in the pockets of my coat and started to walk away.

I heard my name being called followed by a rush of footsteps. Izu, one of the men in Tsume's gang that was on standby, ran up to me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Izu asked in between gasps for air.

"For a walk. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." I said.

Izu's lip curled to the side in disapproval. He looked like he was about to say something, but he turned on his heels and made his way back to the warehouse. I turned around as well and started walking. I had no idea where I was going. It wasn't like I was hungry or anything, I just needed to clear my head. After a while of walking around, I caught a familiar scent. It was the scent that had first drawn Tsume and me to this city. It kind of smelled like flowers... I started following the scent, but as always, I lost it after trying to track it down for about two hours.

"Damn it..." I muttered as I kicked an empty soda can on the floor.

"Something bothering you?" asked a stray cat that sat on the bench next to where I was walking.

I stopped walking and looked at it. "This city is what's bothering me... I feel like I'm going nowhere being stuck here..."

"Well, I don't really think a place with tight spaces and tall buildings is really a good place that a wolf should call home... Don't you agree?" the cat said.

I sneered at the cat a little.

"You're the fourth one I've seen today, you know." the cat said.

"Fourth? What do you mean... The only ones here are me and my brother." I said.

"How interesting... Maybe the reason why you and your brother came here will soon reveal itself to you." the cat replied before stretching as it got up.

I stood there, a little dumbfounded at what he had just said.

The cat bowed its head a little. "Good evening to you, young wolf."

"B-Bye..." I said.

I was still lost in thought. More wolves? In Freeze City? Why hadn't Tsume and I run into them yet? I shook my head and decided to start walking back to the abandoned warehouse that Tsume and I called home. I was taking my time walking back as I caught another scent. I hadn't smelled this scent for years, but I knew exactly what it was the minute it flowed into my nostrils... Wolf's blood. Shortly after I caught the scent, I heard gunshots in the distance. I started running towards where the blood was coming from. I stopped in my tracks with my eyes wide as a white and red blur rushed passed me... It was another wolf... And this wolf looked exactly like the wolf that was in my dream. The white wolf was followed by a large female dog with a navy blue coat.

I was about to pursue the wolf, when I heard the sound of a gun cock back.

I turned around to see an old man in a brown trench coat holding a gun.

"Don't you move, girl." the old man said.

I stepped back a little. The old man's eyes were locked onto me.

"Girl... You're not a girl... YOU'RE ANOTHER WOLF!" the old man said, his voice growing louder.

I jumped to the side as he shot at me once, and dodged another bullet that was shot at me by jumping to the other. As I took off running, the old man fired another shot at me. I yelled in pain as the bullet lodged itself in the back of my left arm and stumbled onto the floor. I ducked under another shot and then quickly picked myself up while clutching my left arm. I turned the corner into an alleyway as the old man pursued me on foot and jumped from wall to wall of the alley to scale the buildings.

"Damn it..." I heard the old man mutter as he looked up at me from the bottom of the building.

I didn't take much time to look back at him before I made my escape. I stayed on the rooftops of the buildings since they were my only safe zone. The old man continued to pursue me on the ground, looking up as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"You're not getting away!" the old man yelled.

He fired another shot at me as I jumped and it grazed my right calf. I yelped and clumsily fell when I landed on the next rooftop.

"_Shit! What am I gonna do?! I can't go straight back to the house... but if I run around for too long I'll bleed out..._" I thought.

I looked up at the dark sky... Of course the only day I'd get attacked was the time of the new moon. No moonlight meant no help for my wounds or extra strength to help me get away.

I had to out maneuver and out run him. I made it look as if I was going to jump for building directly ahead of me, but turned at the last second and made my way for the building to the right of me. It was going to be a long jump and every step I took made my right calf ache. I growled a little and picked up speed to make the jump. As I got to the edge, I pushed off of my right foot with all my might. I landed on the rooftop and continued running, making my way back to the warehouse with as many twists and turns as possible.

By the time I got there, I was exhausted. My vision had started to blur and my pace had slowed down to a wobbly speed walk. The blood from my arm was seeping in between the fingers of my right hand that held it. I didn't even bother trying to stop the bleeding coming from my leg. My breathing was heavy as were my eyelids.

_"Stupid humans and their guns... That's the last time I take that excuse from him."_ I thought.

As I approached the warehouse, two people ran up to me. They were part of the members of Tsume's gang that were on standby. I knew they'd be out looking for me by now. Whenever Tsume went out on raids, he always told the people on standby to watch me.

"Tsuki, where the hell have you- Ah, shit! What the hell happened to you?!" one of them said.

He picked me up and ran towards the warehouse.

"He's... He's not following... Is he...?" I asked, looking up at the man who was carrying me.

"No, no one's there. You're gonna be fine, Tsuki." he answered.

"Fuck man, Tsume is gonna kill us when he gets back!" the other one said.

"I'm... fine..." I said as coherently as I could.

I'd lost a good amount of blood getting back to the warehouse. I had no idea that I had wandered so deep into Freeze City when I was chasing both the scents of that "flower" and the other wolf. I tried to sniff around for the scent of the old man or the wolf, but my own blood was the only thing that flooded my nostrils. I looked up the human who was carrying me.

He looked back down at me. "Whatever you do, Tsuki, just don't..."

His voice faded. I couldn't hear him anymore. His face as well as everything around me had turned into one big blur.

"I'm just gonna... nap for a little..." I answered.

I heard the human call my name out before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**author's**** note:** Just to let you guys know, I will be challenging myself by writing this story under the theory that the wolves are merely casting an illusion on the humans to hide themselves rather than actually transforming from wolf to human. If you want proof of this, there are many instances in the show that suggest they are still in fact wolves (Hige and Kiba's shadows when they initially escape from the lab in episode 1, the scratches on Quent when Tsume weaponlessly attacks him to save Toboe, etc.). Quent states that the wolves are "casting a spell" on the humans rather than themselves. Also, when Tsume and Toboe are caught by Jagara's troops and put into cells, Hubb sees them initially as humans slamming their shoulders into the bars, but then he sees them as wolves.

Anywho, I digress. I think the creators of Wolf's Rain made them appear in their human form a lot just so people watching would be able to read their expressions and sympathize with them much more. I will do the same in this story. So, obviously if the characters are performing actions they wouldn't do, like nuzzling, they're in their wolf form. Otherwise, they'll be seen as humans in your point of view. It would be much easier for me to write it as if the wolves actually shifted shape, but I decided I wanted to go a different route this time... So, please don't be _too_ harsh if this specific aspect of the story is a little under-developed or has some gaps.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long note! ^_^

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO:  
****The Little One**

**-TSUME-**

We had been driving back from the raid on the noble's freight train for about an hour now. It would take use another two to get back. We had to get the train when it was out in the middle of nowhere to make sure that we wouldn't have any problems. That stupid little kid, Gehl, wouldn't stop yapping on and on about how he was thankful that I saved him and that he wanted to be just like me when he got older. When I told him to shut it, he looked a little dismayed, but remained quiet for the rest of the way home.

Like me... If only he knew what I was really like.  
I doubt he'd be saying the same things to me.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat with my hands behind my head. I looked up at the sky; there was no moon. It was a little risky raiding tonight since I didn't have the moon helping me out, but we needed more supplies. All of our stocks had almost diminished.

I heard the sound of the radio start to buzz. There was a call coming from standby to check on us.

"Tsume! Tsume! Do you read me?" I heard one of my gang members, Izu, call.

I picked up the radio and put it up to my mouth as I pushed down on the button. "Loud and clear, Izu. Anything around us?"

"N-No... It's not that." Izu said.

I could sense the fear in his voice.

"Then what's the matter?" I asked.

"I-It's Tsuki... S-She got attacked..."

I gritted my teeth together and let out a low growl. The man driving beside me tensed up as his eyes darted between me and the road ahead of him.

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED! I TOLD YOU IDIOTS TO FUCKING WATCH HER!" I yelled.

I was struggling to not crush the radio in my hands out of anger.

"I-I don't know, Tsume! S-She went out for a walk and didn't come back for a while. W-We sent some guys out to look for her but they couldn't find her... She came back three hours after she left w-with a bullet in her arm a-and a gun shot wound on her leg." Izu replied.

"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!? WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!? HOW THE HELL CAN YOU HANDLE WATCHING US ON RADAR, YET YOU CAN'T WATCH A GOD DAMN NINETEEN YEAR-OLD?!"

"I-I'm sorry Tsume! W-We just thought she was going out for a walk! It wasn't that late. We didn't think someone would attack her!" Izu defended himself.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath through my clenched teeth. Even though Tsuki was the only thing that actually mattered to me, I had to stay calm and collected.

"How is she doing now?" I asked after about fifteen seconds of silence.

"Maru and Nuki are taking a look at her now."

"Put one of them on." I said.

"Got it." Izu answered.

My heart was racing. She didn't even come on the raid and she still got shot...

I heard Nuki's voice on the radio. "Tsume."

"How's she pulling through, Nuki?" I asked.

"She's lost a lot of blood, but she'll live. The wound on her leg was just a graze, so it's not a problem. We took out the bullet in her arm. Maru's working on cleaning her up now." Nuki answered.

"Does she need blood?" I asked.

"It looks like it... It's weird though... When we tried to test her blood type, it came up as invalid for all of the tests."

"I have her blood type. Can she survive without the blood until we get back?" I asked.

"W-Well, how far away are you guys?"

"About two hours away." I answered.

"... That's pushing it quite a lot, Tsume. She needs blood as soon as possible... We were just gonna transfuse some O negative blood into her." Nuki said.

"DON'T PUT ANY BLOOD INTO HER! WE'LL BE BACK WITHIN AN HOUR!" I yelled.

I didn't even want to think about what would happen to Tsuki if they mixed human blood in with hers.

"Tsume, do you really want to-"

I interrupted Nuki before he could finish. "If you put any blood into her, I'm gonna drain both of you of all of yours..."

"Yes, sir. We'll do our best to keep her stabilized until you get here then." Nuki answered.

"Over and out." I said before slamming the radio down.

"Tsume... we're two hours away from Freeze City." Sanzu, the human who was driving, said.

"Then unless you want me to kick your ass out of this car and leave you out here, you better step on." I answered, not looking at him.

The human gulped loudly and floored the gas.

* * *

**- TSUKI -**

A scent... was this Tsume...? Yes... and No... My eyes fluttered open. I was in my room, lying down on my futon. I looked to my right to see Tsume curled up on the floor, his hand tightly gripping mine.

"_Definitely coming from him.. it's his scent... and another one... another wolf's scent..._" I thought.

Tsume looked so at peace as he slept. I hadn't seen that look on his face in quite a while. I smiled since I now knew he back safely. I looked at my left arm to see that it was bandaged up.

"_Oh boy... He's gonna kill me once he knows I'm awake. No time like the present, eh?_" I thought.

I gave Tsume's hand a squeeze and he jolted up.

"Tsuki!" he said in shock.

Tsume nuzzled me underneath my chin with his head and licked my cheek. In our human forms, it appeared as if he was holding me tightly as I sat up and kissed my forehead.

"I was worried you wouldn't wake up..." Tsume said.

I chuckled a little. Tsume let go of me and glared a little bit.

"What the hell are you laughing at?!" He asked with a slight bite in his tone of voice.

"I wasn't gonna die Tsume. It'll take a lot more than any of those stupid humans and their guns can do." I said, mimicking Tsume's voice.

Tsume shook his head and laughed a little himself. "You're such an annoying little pup, you know that?"

"Hey! I'm not a pup anymore! Just cos' you're older than me, doesn't mean I'm always gonna be a pup!" I retorted.

Tsume rustled my hair. "You'll always be a pup to me, Suk."

I groaned a little in response. "Suk" was a little nickname that he'd given me a long time ago.

"Anywho... What the hell happened to you?"

"I can ask you the same... You smell like another wolf..." I said.

"Well, I'm not the one who almost bled out now, am I?" Tsume said.

There was a couple seconds of silence between us.

"I was attacked..." I said.

"That's obvious." Tsume added.

"I went out last night for a walk. I caught that scent again... The one that took us here... I hadn't smelled it for a while so I started followi-"

Tsume interrupted me. "You got attacked because of that god damn scent?! Didn't I tell you to stop chasing it?!"

"You're not letting me finish! I-"

Tsume interrupted again. "I don't wanna hear anymore of it. Obviously, you got attacked because of your own stupidity. That scent is nothing."

"It's not nothing, Tsume! I know you still smell it sometimes too! It brought us here for a reason! Don't you ever think that we're meant to do something more than this?!" I yelled at him.

I was starting to get emotional at this point. Tears were welling up in my eyes in my human form.

"We're not 'meant to do' anything. I hate it when you talk like that... as if we have some great destiny to fulfill... We're staying in this city, just like we are now, and nothing is going to change." Tsume said.

I looked away from him with a little growl.

"You're so god damn lucky that your illusion kept up on them when you were knocked out... Do you have any idea what could've happened if they saw what you really look like?" Tsume scolded me.

I remained silent. He was definitely right there... If the humans had actually seen my actual appearance, who knows what they would've done?

"From now on, when I'm not here, you don't go out of our territory." Tsume said.

"What?! That's not fair! You didn't even listen to me!" I detested.

"I don't care if it's fair or not. It's what you're going to do." Tsume said with growling behind his speech.

Our eyes locked for a good amount of time. After a while, I lowered mine in submission.

"Fine..." I said.

Tsume got up and walked out of my room.

* * *

Once again, Tsume was out on a raid with the humans. He had instructed the ones on standby to keep a close eye on me in case I tried to go out. Right now, I was just sitting in my room on the windowsill. There was absolutely nothing to do... At least Tsume wouldn't be gone for that long. I still didn't know why Tsume had the scent of another wolf on him when I woke up before and was dying to know how it happened. It smelled like that other wolf that had run past me... The one from my now reoccurring dream.

I hated that Tsume said that we had no greater purpose. I felt like that dream of that same scene with the white wolf was proof enough that we weren't meant to just rot in this city. Tsume always said brought up the fact that we weren't human whenever I tried to stop him from going out on raids, yet he basically said that we were going to die here like the rest of the humans. I couldn't stand thinking about that. Tsume was right... We're not like normal people. We're not humans, so why should we die like humans?

I was sitting on the windowsill, looking out at the moon in my true form. My ears perked up once I heard the sound of car engines heading towards me from afar and I put my illusion up. The cars came about five minutes later. I watched as Tsume and his gang started to unload the supplies from the cars into the warehouse. It looked like they had only lost one or two people... but Gehl, the youngest, was missing. He was instructed to stay on standby since he got a little scared on the last raid. Despite my attempts to make him stay at the warehouse with the rest of standby, he ended up following Tsume and the rest of the squad that went out for the raid.

Gehl was the only one that I really talked to. He seemed to have a little crush on me and was always asking about how it was like to have Tsume as an older brother. I'm usually indifferent to humans, neither liking nor disliking them, but I actually enjoyed Gehl's company. He reminded me of one of the wolf pups in our old pack that used to have the same feelings towards me that Gehl had. They were both... so naive.

I jumped down from the windowsill and ran up to Tsume, who was carrying a box.

"Where's Gehl?" I asked.

Tsume's eyes glinted with dismay for about half a second, but then they reverted to their usual cold look that he wore around the humans. One of the humans passed me as he carried a box into the warehouse. He shook his head with a sad look on his face.

Another human stopped in front of me. "They spotted us while we were on our way out. Gehl slipped on the pipes while he was running back... Tsume tried to save him, but he still fell."

"I see..." I said, trying to hide the sadness in my voice.

I sighed and walked back into the warehouse and up to my room. Tsume didn't even bother coming to me after the humans left. He went straight into his room. After he had spent about fifteen minutes in there by himself, I walked over to him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing happened to me." Tsume answered, not looking back at me.

He had taken a seat at his usual spot on the windowsill to bask in the moonlight.

"I meant with Gehl dying." I clarified.

"It's not like I care about what happens to them. The only reason they're here is because it makes things a hell of a lot easier for us." Tsume replied.

I was silent for a little. "One of the humans said that you tried to save him."

"Yeah, I did." He answered.

"Did he see?" I asked.

"He saw when I grabbed him with my mouth and couldn't take the pain when I tried to pull him up, so he fell... I don't see why you care anyway. He was just a dumb kid."

I smiled and let out a soft and slow chuckle. "I guess it was because he reminded me Haru... You remember? That wolf pup who-"

"I really don't feel like 'reminiscing' about them right now, Suk." Tsume urged.

"... I miss feeling like I belong, Tsume. I know for a fact that how Gehl must have reacted to you makes you feel the same. We don't belong here and you know it."

I expected Tsume to snap at me for that, but to my surprise, he remained silent. I turned around and headed for my room to go to sleep.

* * *

By the time I woke up in the morning, Tsume was gone. Maybe for once, something that I said to him would get through his head. I was outside in the park, talking to the same cat who said that he had seen some other wolves besides my brother and me. Humans who passed by me gave me weird looks, but didn't think much of me. They would definitely freak out more if they saw a grey wolf sitting next to a cat on a bench as opposed to seeing a nineteen year-old girl talking to a cat.

"I don't know, Moro... I really won't believe you until I see another one." I said to the cat.

Moro was a rather fat indoor/outdoor tabby cat who spent the time that he wasn't eating in his owner's house here in the park. His collar jingled as he turned his head towards me.

"You told me that the reason you came out when we first encountered each other that day was because you smelled a familiar and odd scent. Then, you later smelled the blood of your own kind, no?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"And you saw a white blur that was the source of the scent of that blood and was shot by a human that saw through your illusion, no?"

"Yeah..."

"And your own brother smelled of another wolf when you woke up, no?"

"Yeah..."

The cat meowed as it chuckled a little. "I really don't understand why you still don't believe me then. I would think that you would trust your nose just as much as you trust your eyes."

I groaned a little and made a face.

"I think you, my young wolf, are in denial. You say that you want to find a greater purpose; that you don't want to spend the rest of your life here... But now that that purpose is starting to lead you to it, you're turning it away. I also think that all of you wolves that still survive today are indeed meant for something greater. You cannot be scared of that, young one." he said.

I was quiet. I didn't know what to say because deep down that was the truth. I didn't want to die here, yet I didn't want something like what happened to Tsume and me before to happen again.

"You've seen another one. You've smelled another one. Maybe all that's left for you is-"

Moro was interrupted. My eyes went wide and ears perked up as I heard the sound of a sorrowful howl ring through the air. I hadn't heard a howl in so long that it brought tears to my eyes... The call was so full of sadness, yet so beautiful.

"To hear another one." Moro said during the silence in between the howls.

I looked back to where the howling came from when it suddenly stopped.

"I have to go." I said as I got up and started running back towards where the howling came from.

"Thank you, Moro!" I called as I ran.

As I ran towards where the howling was, I caught the scent of the wolf it came from. That scent was also mixed in with Tsume's scent. I headed back to the warehouse as fast as I could. The sun had already set when I got back. I ran straight to Tsume's room to see him sitting down on the windowsill. There was a young red wolf sitting on the floor a couple feet away from Tsume.

"You... You're another wolf?!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, obviously she's another wolf." Tsume sneered.

I walked up to him and bent down to his level with a smile. "I'm Tsuki."

"I-I heard about you too from the crows. You're Tsume's sister, right?" the boy said.

After reacting to my first appearance, he reverted back to being dismayed.

"Uh, yeah..." I answered.

"I'm Toboe." he said, forcing a smile.

"We're you the one that howled before, Toboe?"

"Yeah, that was me..." Toboe answered, looking at his feet.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"He tried to butter up some human by getting her pet bird back and ended up killing it. Then he cried over it like a baby and showed the human his real form." Tsume said.

"I never meant to kill anything... Granny, she... I was all alone at the entrance to the dome and she was so nice to me. She said I was so little my eyes had barely opened."

Toboe lifted up his right wrist and looked sadly at the bangles that jingled around it as he continued. "She gave these to me and we lived together ever since."

"You mean she kept you as a pet. That human tamed you. You were nothing more than an obedient dog. " Tsume stated.

"Tsume! You shouldn't say things like that!" I scolded.

"What, it's the truth." Tsume nonchalantly said.

Just because Toboe liked humans, didn't mean that Tsume had to be a jerk about it.

Toboe tried to defend himself. "I wasn't...! I-I only wanted to protect her... but she still..."

"She still threw you out?" Tsume asked.

I shot him a glare. He was being so inconsiderate right now. He was just a kid...

"She still died..." Toboe said.

He buried his head in his arms and started to sob a little. "She died... I let her die."

I hugged Toboe to me as he cried a little. All of us heard footsteps coming down the hall. I tensed up and looked at Tsume.

Tsume rose from his spot on the windowsill and opened the door when the footsteps stopped in front of it. It was Seto, one of Tsume's gang.

"Seto." Tsume addressed him.

"No one's gonna come." Seto said.

"Then why are you here?" Tsume asked.

"I'm leaving after this. Tsume, you're just too different from the rest of us." Seto said as he started to walk away.

I shot up and ran in front of Tsume. "You say different like it's a bad thing! All of you damn humans would've been nothing without Tsume! You would've been caught by the nobles ages ago!"

Tsume tried to quiet me. "Tsuki."

"You've survived all this time because of him and this is how you thank him?!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry... You two may be able to keep living like this, but we can't." Seto said.

Then he took his leave. Before I could do anything else about my anger, Tsume, Toboe, and I heard the irritating ringing of a noble ship. We all remained silent as we waited...

Something was about to happen and we could all feel it...


	3. Chapter 3

**authors**** note:** as a wolf, Tsuki pretty much looks exactly the same as Tsume except that she's smaller and has more feminine features... if wolves can have more feminine features... haha. The only differences are that the light grey parts on her chest and face are lighter than Tsume's coat, and that she has this same color on the tip of her tail. Also, the scar shows long her left cheek next to her snout.

* * *

**CHAPTER**** THREE:  
****Hauntings of the Past****  
**

We all remained silent, waiting for something to happen. Shortly, we all heard a sound unlike anything we ever heard before. It was like... a scream of some sorts that expressed pain and sadness... But the scream wasn't that of any type of being on this Earth that I'd ever heard before.

Tsume tensed up as did I. I covered my ears tightly and both of us looked back at Toboe. He had covered his ears and started to scream as he shut his eyes tightly. Sweat was dripping from his brow.

"Cut it out! Toboe! Be quiet! Just shut up!" Tsume roared.

He was obviously extremely uncomfortable from the sound as were the rest of us. After the "scream" had stopped, the only thing that remained was the ringing of the noble's ship. It quickly faded. I uncovered my ears and shook my head. Toboe still hadn't moved. I knelt down to him and put my hand on his back.

"Toboe..." I cooed softly.

"Snap out of it, would you?" Tsume demanded.

Toboe perked his head up. "Huh? Is it... It's gone... You felt that didn't you? You both heard it, right?"

Tsume didn't answer him, so I did. "Yeah we did."

"Such a sad voice..." Toboe commented.

"It was a machine that's all. Probably the dying sounds of some old robot breaking down..." Tsume reasoned.

I remained quiet. Just like the cat said about me... Tsume was also in denial. All of us knew for damn sure that wasn't a robot. I'd heard plenty of robots during my stay here, and I'd never heard that sound before in my life.

"You should go to sleep, Toboe." Tsume said after a long silence between all of us.

Toboe got up without saying a word or making any notions towards either of us and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Tsume." I said.

"Don't start... I know it wasn't a machine... I just didn't want the kid going on and on about it." Tsume answered.

I sighed and got up to leave.

Tsume spoke before I started to walk. "The one who attacked you that night... It was an old man and his dog, right?"

I turned to him. "How did you know?"

"He spotted the two of us later in the day after I swiped Toboe from the girl that he showed himself to. Probably would've killed him if I hadn't came back." Tsume said.

Tsume looked at me. "I guess... I-I'm sorry for what I said the other night... That guy was hunting for wolves..."

I smirked. Being able to hear an apology from Tsume was something that happened once in a blue moon.

Tsume snarled a little and then turned his head. "Don't you smirk at me like that... I said I'm sorry, but it's still your fault since you were out chasing that stupid smell."

"Aww, it's okay! I forgive you, ya big softie!" I teased.

I took down my illusion and hopped on Tsume, play biting at him. He rolled into the room from on top of the windowsill and struggled against me, still retaining his illusion.

"Cut it out, you overgrown pup!" Tsume complained.

I laughed a little and got off of him. Then I walked towards the door.

"Love ya too, big bro!" I teased again.

Tsume scoffed as I exited his room.

* * *

"So, what are you two gonna do now? Do you have somewhere to go?" Toboe asked.

I looked to Tsume for our answer.

"Who knows..." Tsume replied before taking a bite of his burger.

Toboe looked down at his lunch in his hands as he spoke. "I wonder if I'll ever see Leara again."

His eyes lit up. "Hey! Do you think it would be okay if I went to visit her?"

"I don't really think that's such a good idea, Toboe... We have to be careful around humans." I said.

"She's not gonna hurt me! I know it!" Toboe reasoned.

"You saw that look on her face. Didn't you?" Tsume added.

"She was just... a little surprised. That's all."

Tsume laughed. "You can't be serious. She was pissing in her pants."

"She was not!"

"That girl was reeking of it."

"Why do you have to lie about everything? You heard that sound too, didn't you? And it must've made you feel sad. So, stop lying and just be honest with yourself." Toboe said.

I remained silent and continued to eat. This was the same point that I had been trying to get across to Tsume for years. I knew that it would just go in one ear and out the other with him, regardless of who it came from.

"Fine, if you wanna go, then go. It's not like I care what happens to ya." Tsume digressed.

"_Liar._" I thought.

Tsume rarely went out of his way to do anything he didn't have to for anyone.

"So why did you save me then? If you really don't care, you should've just left me there or pretended not to recognize me." said Toboe.

Boom, right in the sweet spot. I wondered what Tsume would say to that, but before any real emotion could come out, Toboe bit himself in the leg with his words, so to speak.

"I mean, I'm not your friend or anything..." he added.

"You're right. You're not my friend."

"Tsume!" I scolded.

Toboe got a little fire in his eyes as he looked at Tsume. "Yeah I forgot, you're only friends with humans. It's easier that way, isn't it? Cos' no human is ever gonna be as strong as you. They'll do whatever you tell them to."

As Toboe spoke, I could see that Tsume was getting angrier and angrier... Mostly because what Toboe was saying was the absolute truth.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You have no idea what it takes to survive in this city. How dangerous it is! Nothing! Go on... Let's see how well you do on your own." Tsume spat at him.

Toboe didn't move.

"Beat it!" Tsume yelled at him, throwing his lunch on the ground near where Toboe was sitting.

Toboe got up and walked towards the door.

He looked back before he left. "Being alone doesn't bother you?"

"Hey, I'm sorry." Tsume said.

Toboe's eyes softened.

Tsume propped himself up on the windowsill and put his hands behind his head. "I'm sorry I ever got mixed up with a kid like you."

Toboe's eyes hardened again and he ran out of the room.

"Toboe!" I called after him.

He didn't stop.

I looked towards Tsume, who's expression hadn't changed.

"Do you really have to be such an asshole sometimes?" I said.

Tsume didn't reply. I ran towards the door to go after Toboe, but stopped before I went out of the room and turned back towards Tsume.

"That's the second person who's tried to tell you to get out of denial. I hope you realize that... And this one hasn't even known you for that long." I said.

"I'm sick of people trying to tell me things that they think they know about me and I'm sick of friends. Who needs them..." Tsume replied.

I didn't even know what to say to him. We had literally just resolved our last problem last night and out comes another one. Of course I always listened to Tsume no matter what, but we were never the same as we were before. Ever since we decided to stay in Freeze City, we were constantly going at it. Before, when we actually belonged to a pack, we had our little quarrels now and then, but it was nothing compared to now. We were closer... Now, it seemed as if there was this unfixable rift between us.

I turned back around again, but then Tsume spoke. "You better not bring that damn kid back here. I don't want him in our territory again."

I didn't answer, but I wasn't planning on disobeying Tsume. I stood there for a couple seconds and then ran after Toboe. I caught up to him about a quarter of a mile away from the warehouse.

"Toboe, wait!" I called.

Toboe stopped running and stood in his spot, not looking at me. I ran up and stopped in front of him.

"Why is he so cold-hearted, Tsuki?" Toboe asked.

I sighed. "My brother and I have been through a lot... Tsume wasn't always like that. And you know, I've been trying to get the same exact thing that you said across to him for the longest time now."

"W-What happened to you two?" Toboe asked.

I saw his eyes linger to the mark on the left side of my face. He had no idea what it meant. I guess that he wouldn't have since he had been living with humans for his entire life.

"You two have the same scar... Does it have anything to do with that?"

I looked away and touched the scar on my cheek. "I'm really not at liberty to say. If Tsume wants you to know, he'll tell you one day."

"What do you mean? He just kicked me out! You know what, Tsuki? I'll show him! I don't need him to survive! I'll be perfectly fine on my own." Toboe snapped.

"I... Toboe... Tsume reacted that way because what you said back there was the truth. Both of us heard that sound. And Tsume does mingle with humans because he has no problems controlling them... But things are a lot more complicated than they seem. My brother isn't a bad wolf... He really isn't."

"I know he's not... H-He wouldn't have saved me back then from that old man and his dog if he wasn't..." Toboe said, the expression on his face softening again.

I smiled at Toboe and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him towards me.

"I'm sure that this isn't going to be the last time we'll see each other. Tsume will come around. I promise." I said.

Toboe smiled at me and then hugged me tightly. I was a little surprised at first and then hugged him back.

"Bye, Tsuki." Toboe said.

I fluffed his hair a little as I looked down at him.

"See ya." I replied.

Toboe smiled and then ran off. I watched him run for a while until a sound made my ears perk up. It sounded like... footsteps... human footsteps coming from the other side of the warehouse. I turned around and ran back for the house. I ran up to his room, but he wasn't there. I looked out the window to see a bunch of human police running towards Tsume, who was in the courtyard.

"Tsume!" I called to get his attention.

He turned around and ran past the police, knocking them all down. He was heading for Seto, who was standing next to a detective. I jumped down and kicked Seto on to the ground as Tsume rocketed towards us and knocked out the detective next to him.

"Tsume! Tsuki!" Seto said, surprised.

Tsume picked him and pinned him against the tree we were standing by with one hand.

"You sold me out?" Tsume asked him.

"They caught us when we tried to sneak on the train. We couldn't just let you get away scot-free." Seto replied.

I growled a little as I clenched my fists.

Tsume smiled. "You damn humans."

Seto's face shifted from smiling to one of surprise. I looked as two more armed police officers ascended the stairs.

"Tsume, we gotta go!" I stated.

Tsume backed away from Seto and both of us ran towards the warehouse, jumping on top of it. We looked back at the disbelief on the faces of the humans before we ran off. The ones who we left behind notified their other squads, who started to chase us in the city.

"Where are we gonna go, Tsume?" I asked.

"I don't know, anywhere! We just gotta lose them first!" Tsume said.

I looked behind us as a police car and two foot squadrons were close on our tails. Just then, the same blue dog who had been chasing the white wolf I saw the other night jumped in front of us and blocked our path.

"You..." I said.

The dog growled in response.

"Well you're pretty good, aren't you?" Tsume asked.

The dog leaped for Tsume, but I ran and pushed him aside. The dog bit me in the arm.

"Tsuki!" I heard Tsume yell as he fell.

I swung the dog over to where I had pushed Tsume and both of us fell off from the ledge we were on. I held the dog in place below me as we landed on a pile of boxes of potatoes to cushion my fall and knock it out. As expected the dog fell unconscious when we landed. Tsume and I dropped our human illusions and ran past the cops that came up to where we had landed. We made our way into an alleyway, where we found a manhole cover. Tsume opened it and we jumped down into it. We had put up our illusions when we landed on the shallow waters below.

"What the hell is the matter wi-" Tsume stopped scolding me when he saw me holding my arm.

Blood had soaked the sleeve of my white jacket.

"Looks like I got another wound in my arm... In the same spot." I said with a little chuckle.

"Why did you do that..?" Tsume asked with a little growl as he came closer to me to examine the bite wounds.

"I was not gonna let you get man handled by a bitch like _that_." I replied.

Tsume laughed and shook his head. "Looks like she man handled you a little bit."

"Hey! I woulda tore her throat out if we weren't being chased by those stupid humans!" I growled.

Tsume smiled a little. "I shouldn't have expected any less from you in terms of aggression since we have the same blood running through our veins... C'mon, let's get out of here so we can try and do something about those wounds."

I nodded to Tsume and ran after him.

* * *

"Owch! Stop licking it! It's not helping anymore!" I said, shooing Tsume, who was sitting next to me without his illusion up, away.

Tsume backed away and put his illusion back up.

"Sor-ry princess..." Tsume said sarcastically.

He went up to the boxes behind him to search for something he could use on my wounds. We were actually in the spot where Tsume had raided before when Gehl died.

"I don't see why you're fussing over them anyway. They're already almost healed from the moon. It's not like-" I stopped talking when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

Tsume and I went into high alert as we both turned towards the doorway. I smelled the air... Three scents, two familiar, and one new. The door opened and my eyes went wide.

It was the white wolf that I'd seen in both my dreams and being chased that night. Both Tsume and I stood up as two other people entered. One of them was another wolf with a collar that I hadn't met before. The other one was Toboe.

"What a crap heap. Why'd you bring us here?" the collared wolf asked.

"Tsume! Tsuki!" Toboe addressed us.

"You!" Tsume said.

The collared wolf looked back and forth between Toboe and Tsume. "What, is this him?"

Then he looked at me. "Woah! A babe!"

I wasn't really concentrating on what was going on around me. All that mattered was the white wolf in front of me. He had been staring at me as well, but his eyes also darted to Tsume.

"I could smell the blood from your wound." the white wolf said, his eyes returning to mine.

I glanced down at my arm and put my hand over it. The blood had stopped coming out of it, but it was still open.

"What?" Tsume asked, stepping in front of me.

"I smelled it all the way from town." the wolf added.

"And you're gonna nurse her back to health? I don't think so. She is _my_ kin. _I'm_ the one taking care of her, and I don't need _your_ help." Tsume dictated.

"Tsume! Stop!" I demanded.

"Shut up! They're invading our territory, tracking you, and you wanna be nice to them?!" Tsume argued.

I averted my eyes from Tsume's strong gaze in submission.

"Tsume, Tsuki... Look, I... We're leaving the city. I really think you both should come with us." Toboe said.

"And where exactly is this merry band of yours going?" Tsume asked.

"To Paradise." the white wolf answered.

"Paradise..." I repeated softly.

Paradise... Legends said before that venturing to Paradise became every wolf's calling at one point during his or her life. Now I understood, this was our calling. This is the greater purpose that I had been searching for. That dream that I was having... wasn't just total nonsense. It was my calling... It was telling me to go with this wolf and search for Paradise, just like he was doing.

"You're kidding me. You're going with him because you believe in that crap?" Tsume said.

"I don't know, but... If we stay here, we'll have to spend the rest of our lives in hiding or worse. We just can't live with the humans anymore and survive."

I stepped towards the wolves in front of me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tsume asked me with a growl.

"Toboe's right. And besides, this is what I've been trying to tell you Tsume We're not meant to die here like humans. I know we're not! I'm going with them..." I said.

"Look I hate to interrupt, but a nasty stink is headed this way." the collared wolf said as he peeked out of the window from behind the cover of the wall.

Tsume shot a look at me and then looked out of the window as well. Humans were outside armed and ready to attack.

"We're surrounded." he stated.

"Let me ask you. Why did you guys come to this city? It was because of the flower scent, wasn't it? Well, it's gone now. There's no reason to stay." the white wolf said.

"The flower has nothing to do with it. I'm here because I belong." Tsume lied.

"Liar!" I growled.

Tsume glared at me.

"Tsume, stop lying to yourself! You know we both came here because of it! We would've died if we didn't follow it here! And you know we don't belong here... we wouldn't have to hide like this if we did. We wouldn't be called 'different' if we did..." I said.

"I can see that you belong here. This city is a dump." the white wolf said.

I looked back at him while Tsume tensed up.

"I still have a score to settle with you." Tsume said as he nudged me aside and approached the white wolf.

"Tsume!" I called.

"We don't have time for this!" the collared wolf stated.

"Last time you mentioned something about how your pride wouldn't allow you to pass as a human. Well, you look pretty human now. Where'd your pride go?" Tsume asked the white wolf.

"Nowhere. Nothing has changed." the wolf answered.

"Do you have the slightest idea of what leaving the city would mean?" Tsume asked him.

"Yeah..."

"You'll just die."

There it was... The reason why Tsume refused to leave and refused to be receptive to anything I said pertaining to us not belonging. Was he scared of dying?

"Possibly. Everyone's gonna die. It's a natural part of life, but if life has no purpose you're dead already." the wolf said.

His words stuck with me. They were exactly what I was feeling. I felt like the wolf in me was dying since I had no purpose.

"Tsume, please..." I begged.

All of us ducked as a bright light was shined though the window and we were assaulted by a barrage of bullets.

"We have to get out of here!" the collared wolf yelled.

Tsume looked at me. My eyes were begging him to let us go with them.

"This way!" Tsume instructed as he started running out of the room.

We made our way around some of the troops. The way out was by running on a bunch of pipes. There were humans below us, but it was the fastest way out so we took it. Tsume jumped on one of the pipes followed by Toboe. I jumped on the one next to him before the white wolf, and the collared wolf ran on the other one alongside us.

"Tsume!" I heard Toboe call.

I looked back to see him hanging off of the pipe. Tsume put down his illusion and pulled Toboe up with his jaws. They briefly spoke and then Tsume jumped to the pipe below.

"Tsume!" I called after him.

I jumped from the pipe I was running on to the other pipe that Tsume had jumped to.

"Hey, where are you going?!" the white wolf called.

I caught up to him, dodging the bullets that were being shot at us. I watched as the three other wolves went in a different direction.

"Tsume, please! Listen to me!" I cried.

We hid from the incoming fire behind a large column.

"I'm not going with them, Tsuki. This is where we part ways if you intend to leave here." Tsume said, not looking at me.

"Do you really think I'm going to abandon you, Tsume? I didn't let you run off that time and I'm not letting you run off now!" I yelled, tears welling up in my eyes.

I looked at my older brother. His eyes had the same exact look that they had on _that_ day...

"I know you're scared of what's gonna happen, Tsume... but this is not where we belong anymore and you know that." I said.

"Look at us, Suk. We're marked as exiles. We're never going to belong anywhere ever again." Tsume uttered.

"You don't know that... I'd rather die in search of Paradise with wolves that I might belong with instead of rotting to death in this city with these disgusting humans that I know I don't belong with." I said.

Tsume looked away from me again. I put my hand on his cheek and made him look at me.

Then I placed my other hand on his chest, over his scar. "These scars that we bare aren't curses that changed our fate. They're all dead and we're alive. We have to keep pushing forward; it's the only way to go... I followed you that time, Tsume. Now, it's your turn to follow me." I said.

This time, I didn't avert my eyes from Tsume's...  
This time, I wouldn't submit...

The look of uncertainty in Tsume's eyes changed into resolve.

"Lead the way." Tsume replied.

I nodded to him and we both ran off in the direction where the others had headed. We spotted them waiting right by the edge of the dome to Freeze City. The white wolf's eyes locked with mine for a second, but then went to Tsume's.

"Tsume! Tsuki!" Toboe called when he saw us.

"This way!" the white wolf pointed out.

All of us jumped on top of an arch and then to the top of the wall of the dome. We ran across the top of the wall. The white wolf jumped down from the edge and landed on the ruins of a castle. I followed him without hesitation with the collared wolf at my back. I looked up to see that Toboe had abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"Jump already!" the collared wolf nagged.

"I was getting ready to, alright?!" Toboe defended himself.

Tsume appeared behind him.

"Move it!" He demanded before kicking him in the back off of the ledge. Toboe let out a yell before he landed on his feet in front of us and slipped on his behind.

Tsume didn't move right away. Bullets were fired by his feet.

"Tsume, what are you waiting for!? C'mon, jump!" Toboe called.

I stepped forward a little and looked Tsume directly in the eyes. He didn't return my gaze.

"Are you scared?" the white wolf asked.

"Yeah, you wish." Tsume answered.

We all jumped down from the ruins of the castle and dropped our illusions as we ran, leaving Freeze City behind in the snow. After about twenty minutes of running, Tsume stopped and looked back at the dome of Freeze City. I stopped next to him and looked back as well.

"Screw this stupid journey. Paradise can kiss my ass. I'm just... fed up with this stinking town." He said.

I shook my head and laughed a little. "You always have to defend yourself, don't you?"

Tsume scoffed.

"Thank you..." I said.

"For what?" Tsume asked.

"You followed me and left behind something that you had comfort in... just like I did before." I said.

I licked Tsume's cheek and then nuzzled the nape of his neck and chest.

"Well, it's not like I was gonna let you run off what a pack of horny mutts, either way, you know..." Tsume said.

I laughed and pushed him aside a little.

"You're so full of it." I said before I started running again.

"Since I followed you, you're gonna be the one taking care of me this time!" Tsume yelled to me.

I couldn't take the smile off of my face as I continued to run with what was now our pack. I knew this is where we were meant to be. After all that time spent in the city alone, once again we found a place where we belonged.


End file.
